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| Slash and Burn Agriculture |
Slash-and-burn agriculture, also called swidden agriculture, is a practice in which forestland is cleared and burned for use in crop and livestock production. While yields are high during the first few years, they rapidly decline in subsequent years, leading to further clearing of nearby forestland.
Slash-and-burn agriculture has been practiced for many centuries among people living in tropical rain forests. Initially, this farming system involved small populations.
Therefore, land could be allowed to lie fallow (unplanted) for many years, leading to the full regeneration of the secondary forests and hence a restoration of the ecosystems. During the second half of the twentieth century, however, several factors led to drastically reduced fallow periods.
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In some places such fallow systems are no longer in existence, resulting in the transformation of forests into shrub and grasslands, negative effects on agricultural productivity for small farmers, and disastrous consequences to the environment.
Among the factors that have been responsible for reduced or nonexistent fallow periods are increased population in the tropics, increased demand for wood-based energy, and, perhaps most important, the increased worldwide demand for tropical commodities during the 1980’s and 1990’s, especially for products such as palmoil and natural rubber.
These last two factors have helped industrialize slash-and-burn agriculture, which was practiced for centuries mainly by small farmers. Ordinarily, small farmers are able to control their fires so that they are similar to a small forest fire triggered by lightning in the northwestern or southeastern United States.
While slash-and-burn agriculture seldom takes place in temperate regions, some agricultural burning occurs in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, where it is estimated that three thousand to five thousand agricultural fires are set each year in Washington State alone. These fires also create problems for human health and the environment.
Habitat Fragmentation
One of the most easily recognized results of slash-and-burn agriculture is habitat fragmentation, which leads to a significant loss of the vegetation needed for the maintenance of effective gaseous exchange in tropical regions and throughout the world.
For every acre of land lost to slash-and-burn agriculture, 10 to 15 acres (4 to 6 hectares) of land are fragmented, resulting in the loss of habitat for wildlife, plant species, and innumerable macro- and microorganisms yet to be identified. This also creates problems for management and wildlife conservation efforts in parts of the world with little or no resources to feed their large populations.
Fragmentation has also led to intensive discussions on global warming. While slash-and-burn agriculture by itself is not completely responsible for global warming, the industrialization of the process could make it a significant component of the problem, as more and more vegetation is fragmented.
Human Health
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| Thick smoke from burning forest |
The impact of slash-and-burn agriculture on human health and the environment is best exemplified by the 1997 Asian fires that resulted from such practices. Monsoon rains normally extinguish the fires set by farmers, but a strong El Niño weather phenomenon delayed the expected rains, and the fires burned out of control for months.
Thick smoke caused severe health problems. It is estimated that more than 20 million people in Indonesia alone were treated for asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, and eye, skin, and cardiovascular problems as a result of the fires. Similar problems have been reported for smaller agricultural fires.
Three major problems are associated with air pollution: particulate matter, pollutant gases, and volatile organic compounds. Particulate compounds of 10 microns or smaller that are inhaled become attached to the alveoli and other blood cells, resulting in severe illness.
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Studies by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the University of Washington indicate that death rates associated with respiratory illnesses increase when fine particulate air pollution increases. Meanwhile, pollutant gases such as carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide become respiratory irritants when they combine with vapor to form acid rain or fog.
Until the Asian fires, air pollutants stemming from the small fires of slash-and-burn agriculture that occur every planting season often went unnoticed. Thus, millions of people in the tropics experience environmental health problems because of slash-and-burn agriculture that are never reported.
Soil and Water Quality
As evidenced by the impact of Hurricane Mitch on Honduras during 1998, these exposed lands can give rise to large mudslides that can lead to significant loss of life. While slash-and-burn agriculture may not be the ultimate cause for sudden mud slides, it does predispose these lands to erosional problems.
Associated with erosion is the impact of slash-and-burn agriculture on water quality. As erosion continues, sedimentation of streams increases. This sedimentation affects stream flow and freshwater discharge for catchment-area populations.
Mixed with the sediment are minerals such as phosphorus and nitrogen-related compounds that enhance algal growth in streams and estuaries, which depletes the supply of oxygen that aquatic organisms require to survive. Although fertility is initially increased on noneroded soils, nutrient deposition and migration into drinking water supplies continues to increase.
Controlling Slash-and-Burn Agriculture
Given the fact that slash-and-burn agriculture has significant effects on the environment not only in regions where it is the mainstay of the agricultural systems but also in other regions of the world, it has become necessary to explore different approaches to controlling this form of agriculture.
However, slash-and-burn agriculture has evolved into a sociocultural livelihood; therefore, recommendations must be consistent with the way of life of a people who have minimal resources for extensive agricultural systems.
Among the alternatives are new agroecosystems such as agroforestry systems and sustainable agricultural systems that do not rely so much on the slashing and burning of forestlands. These systems allow for the cultivation of agronomic crops and livestock within forest ecosystems.
This protects soils from being eroded. Another possibility is the education of small rural farmers, absentee landlords, and big agribusiness concerns in developing countries to understand the environmental impact of slash-and-burn agriculture.
While small rural farmers may not have the resources for renovating utilized forestlands, big business can organize ecosystems restoration, as has been done in many developed nations of the world.
